The Interviewers:

Scott Billington has over 100 albums to his credit, including two Grammy winners and 11 Grammy nominees. He is a record producer and Rounder Records vice president of A&R, known for his work in the music industry as a writer, graphic designer, musician, and educator. Among the artists he has produced are Charlie Rich, Irma Thomas, Ruth Brown, Johnny Adams, Beau Jocque and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. His writing has appeared in the Boston Globe, Oxford American, and other publications.

Fred Kasten is an Edward R. Murrow award-winning radio producer and interviewer. In 2007, he retired from a two-decade-plus tenure at the New Let Them Talk… Orleans NPR affiliate, 89.9 WWNO, but continues to produce work for the station. Projects include a 15-part series with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob CONVERSATIONS ON LOUISIANA MUSIC Marshall on coastal restoration issues in Southeast Louisiana, The Louisiana Coast: Last Call, and a weekly jazz program, Jazz New Orleans, heard Friday nights on presented by WWNO and at wwno.org. During his years at WWNO, Kasten hosted the Jones Walker station’s popular Saturday Night Jazz, created and produced the sketch comedy/New Orleans music variety program Crescent City, and was WWNO’s Program Director and Associate General Manager.

John Wirt has written about music, film and other arts in Louisiana since 1992. A former staff writer at The Advocate newspapers, he’s also the author of “Huey ‘Piano’ Smith and the Rocking Pneumonia Blues.”

Keith Spera, a native of New Orleans, has written about music for more than 25 years. He served as editor of Offbeat Magazine in the early 1990s before joining the staff of The Times-Picayune. He was a member of the Picayune’s Pulitzer Prize- winning Hurricane Katrina coverage team. His first book, Groove Interrupted: Loss, Renewal and the Music of New Orleans, was published by 2011. He is currently a music/feature writer at The New Orleans Advocate.

Michael Tisserand is author of "Krazy: George Herriman, A Life in Black and April 14 and 15, 2018 White," which was named one of the New York Times' one hundred notable New Orleans Jazz Museum at the Mint books of 2017. His other books include The Kingdom of Zydeco and Sugarcane 3rd Floor, 400 Esplanade Avenue Academy.

Come back to see us for Satchmo SummerFest August 2-5, 2018 Visit fqfi.org for information Saturday April 14, 2018 Sunday April 15, 2018

11:30 am – LOUISIANA’S MULTI-TALENTED FRENCH CONNECTION - 11:30 am – VANESSA NIEMANN TALKS “GAL HOLIDAY” – Vanessa Singer-songwriter, poet, cultural activist, and environmentalist, Zachary Richard is Niemann is the “Gal” in Gal Holiday and the Honky Tonk Revue. The Maryland one of the most prominent exemplars of the deep, profound and on-going native originally moved to New Orleans with the idea of fronting a traditional jazz connections between Louisiana and the wider French-speaking world. Best known as band, but ultimately decided to go country- in a western swing, honky tonk vein. a recording artist and performer, Richard scored several gold and platinum albums Niemann tells tales of “Gal” and honky tonkin’ in New Orleans and beyond to among the 20 recordings in his international music career so far. Richard talks about interviewer Fred Kasten. his many-faceted career with award-winning author Michael Tisserand. 12:30 pm – ON A MISSION FOR CLASSICAL MUSIC – Dr. Jee Yeoun Ko is 12:30 pm – 40 YEARS ON AND STILL GOING STRONG! – Founding band an accomplished cellist and educator. She grew up in Korea, where she studied member and longtime leader of The Dirty Dozen, trumpeter Gregory Davis talks piano first and then at 13, cello. Cello studies in Germany followed, then a doctorate with interviewer Fred Kasten about the challenges and rewards of keeping a critically from LSU. A former member of both the Baton Rouge and Acadiana Symphony acclaimed ensemble together for over four decades. Orchestras – Dr. Ko joined the faculty of the New Orleans Center for the Creative Arts (NOCCA) a decade ago. As both a performer and educator she is on a mission 1:30 pm – GREET THE DAWN, NAUGHTY SWEETY - New Orleans jazz to introduce the joys of classical music to the widest possible audience – and will talk singer and songwriter Linnzi Zaorski, recorded six cds in the last 10 years, about those efforts with interviewer Fred Kasten. including the two mentioned in her panel title. The Frenchmen Street vocalist will talk about her life and music with interviewer Fred Kasten. 1:30 pm – GREAT NAME, BIG TALENT – Jazz singer Christien Bold has a ready-for-the-spotlight name – and the musical chops and performing savvy to shine 2:30 pm – PIANO MAN PLUS! – Richard Scott is an accomplished songwriter as brightly in that light. Whether sitting in with a master like Ellis Marsalis, or fronting well, with a knack for wrapping his often wry lyrics in a captivating New Orleans his own band, Christien Bold brings a beautiful voice and musical sophistication to his traditional jazz package. He’ll talk about his life and music with interviewer Fred interpretations of ballads, blues and standards. He’ll talk about his jazz journey with Kasten. interviewer Fred Kasten. 3:30 pm – TRIBUTE TO FATS DOMINO – When the great Antoine “Fats” 2:30 pm – ALONG THE CLARINET ROAD – Evan Christopher combines Domino passed away in 2017 he left a rich legacy of artistry and accomplishment. virtuosity, immaculate taste, and enthusiasm with a commitment to exploring the full Domino, his songwriting partner and producer Dave Bartholomew, and the plethora range of possibilities in the New Orleans clarinet tradition. His highly personal brand of great musicians that they collaborated with, created over 25 gold singles. Multiple of “contemporary early jazz” strives to extend the legacies of early Creole Grammy-winning producer Scott Billington moderates the panel which includes: clarinetists such as Sidney Bechet, Barney Bigard and Omer Simeon. He’ll talk about writer Rick Coleman, author of the acclaimed biography Blue Monday: Fats Domino the challenges and rewards along the “Clarinet Road” with interviewer Fred Kasten. and the Lost Dawn of Rock’n’Roll; sax great Roger Lewis from the Fats Domino Band; and longtime Domino friend Haydee Ellis. 3:30 pm – THE LORD IS WAITING AND THE DEVIL IS TOO – is the title track from Johnny Sansone’s award-winning 2011 cd. Son of the saxophonist who 4:30 pm – JOSHUA FIT THE BATTLE OF BOOKER AND ‘FESS – Joshua played for Dave Bruck during WWII, Johnny held his first sax at an early age, and Paxton is a gifted and highly versatile pianist with wide-ranging musical interests. never looked back. He’ll talk about his life as a bluesman and songwriter with veteran Paxton moved to New Orleans from Ohio in the mid-90s to study with Ellis Marsalis music writer John Wirt. at UNO and quickly established himself as a key player on the scene. He’s worked with artists such as Maria Muldaur, Bruce Hornsby, and the Wild Magnolias – and has 4:30 pm – ROCKIN’ IN 21ST CENTURY NEW ORLEANS - “It can be hard to a long-running duo with Debbie Davis. Josh will share stories of his life in music with be a rock musician in New Orleans, and we knew we needed elements to make it a interviewer Fred Kasten. little different,” says Darcy Malone, lead singer of Darcy Malone and the Tangle. “What we’re trying to achieve is rock/soul, with elements of something catchy— 5:30 pm - A FUNKY THIRTY EIGHT – It’s been 38 years since Grammy-winning something like Ike & Tina Turner meets XTC.” The inherent contradiction in those keyboardist, vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Jon Cleary landed in New Orleans disparate reference points, is the driving force behind Darcy Malone and the Tangle. from the British village of Cranbrook, Kent, with $100 in his pocket and the address Since its inception, band founders Malone and her husband, Tangle singer/guitarist of the Maple Leaf Bar. Nearly four decades later, Jon became one of the most Christopher Boye, wanted a project unburdened by traditional genre limitations. accomplished performers and acclaimed songwriters we have. He’ll talk about his Darcy Malone talks about the Tangle’s genre-defying journey with author and music musical journey with interviewer Fred Kasten. writer Keith Spera.